New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez hasn't played a single major league game this season, but he has inevitably made headlines anyway. That will only continue in the wake of a recent interview with S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated.

Rodriguez is featured in SI'scover story this week as he attempts to work his way back from a hip injury as well as a quad strain. While A-Rod is close to overcoming those injuries, the looming Biogenesis scandal could potentially cause him to miss the rest of the season and then some.

According to Adam Berry of MLB.com, some form of punishment is imminent for Rodriguez. It remains to be seen how significant the suspension levied against A-Rod will be, but it seems as though it is only a matter of time before the dominoes fall.

In the meantime, it appears as though Rodriguez is trying to do damage control. A-Rod's reputation took a major hit when he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs back in 2009, but he still aims to be a role model, according to an excerpt from the interview, which was obtained by Dayn Perry of CBS Sports:

I have two daughters at home, and I'm sensitive to that, and above all, I want to be a role model, continue to be a role model—especially to my girls. So all the noise sometimes gets on my nerves, but that's it. I can't let it get any further than that. I have a job to do.

Based on the allegations that Rodriguez is facing as well as what he has already admitted to, he is seemingly past the point of being a role model. Public perception has always mattered to A-Rod, though, so it isn't particularly surprising to see that he has decided to comment even when all the chips are stacked against him.

There has long been a belief that Rodriguez strives to prove his detractors wrong, and while his comeback attempt certainly is suggestive of that, A-Rod insisted in the SI interview that it wasn't a motivating factor for him:

"I think in my 20s it would've been, like, I want to show you doubters or haters -- I don't even like using those words," he said.

This was two days later, on July 20, as the 38-year old Rodriguez sat in front of his locker and talked to me exclusively in Moosic. "I think today my supporters feel me. Our fan-base feels me. My biggest two fans are my daughters: They feel me."

With the Yankees just 2.5 games out of the final American League wild-card spot and getting absolutely no production out of the third-base position, perhaps the much-maligned star would be welcomed back to the Bronx with open arms.